Revista Científica UDO Agrícola Volumen 8.
Número 1. Año 2008. Páginas: 163-170
Notes on the presence of Risso’s Dolphin, Grampus griseus
Cuvier 1812 (Cetacea: Delphinidae),
in Venezuelan waters
Notas sobre la presencia del delfín de Risso, Grampus griseus Cuvier 1812 (Cetacea: Delphinidae) en aguas de
Venezuela
Luis A. BERMÚDEZ VILLAPOL 1, Alejandro J. SAYEGH 1, María Salomé RANGEL 2, María Camila ROSSO LONDOÑO 3 and N. I. VERA 3
1Centro de Investigación de Cetáceos, Venezuela. Av. Jóvito Villalba, E/S Los Robles, Isla de Margarita, 6316, Estado Nueva Esparta, Venezuela; 2Universidad de Oriente, Núcleo Nueva Esparta, Guatamare, Estado Nueva Esparta and 3Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano de Bogotá, carrera 4 # 22-61, Bogotá, Colombia. E-mails: cicvenezuela@yahoo.com, cicvzla@hotmail, msalomer@hotmail.com and comcamilarosso@hotmail.com Corresponding author
Received: 08/09/2007 |
First reviewing ending:
09/20/2007 |
First review received: 12/16/2008 |
Accepted: 12/22/2008 |
ABSTRACT
Risso’s dolphin, Grampus griseus
(Cuvier, 1812), is distributed in tropical to temperate waters around the
world. Nevertheless, there are few records of it for the Caribbean and it is not
considered very common. For Venezuela, southern Caribbean, there were only
three previous records for the species.
To establish initial patterns of distribution for the species in the
country and to contribute to the knowledge of it, several works on cetaceans
from the Caribbean region and Venezuela were analyzed in detail, as well as
field efforts and strandings developed by Cetaceans
Research Center on the eastern basin of the country. Results of data collected
and analysis restrict the distribution of the species to Venezuela’s
northeastern waters, where 20 species of cetaceans have been reported. Records
of G. griseus
represent only 0.35% of data. The species is distributed in an area covering
from the south of
Key words: Risso´s dolphin, Grampus griseus Cuvier1812, distribution, northeastern
basin, Venezuela.
RESUMEN
La especie Risso´s dolphin Grampus griseus (Cuvier, 1812), se
distribuye en aguas tropicales y templadas alrededor del mundo. No obstante, en el Caribe existen
pocos registros de la misma considerándose como poco común. Particularmente, en
Venezuela, Caribe sur, antes de este
trabajo solo tres registros se admitían para la especie. Con la intención de
establecer algunas pautas sobre la distribución de la especie en el país y
aportes en torno al conocimiento de la misma, se analizaron detalladamente
numerosos trabajos sobre cetáceos para la región caribeña y Venezuela, así como
los esfuerzos de campo y atención de varamientos desarrollados por el CIC, en
la toda la cuenca oriental del país. La data recopilada y analizada restringe
la distribución de la especie a las
aguas del noreste de Venezuela, donde han sido reportadas 20 especies de
cetáceos, representando los registros de G.
griseus solo del 0.35 % de la data. La especie se distribuye en una
zona que abarca desde el sur de la isla de
Palabras
clave: Calderón gris, Grampus griseus Cuvier 1812,
distribución, cuenca noreste,
Venezuela.
INTRODUCTION
The Risso’s dolphin, Grampus
griseus (Cuvier 1812), is abundant in tropical
and temperate waters around the world (Leaterwood and
Reeves, 1983; Hoyt, 1984). Sighting records of the species indicate that it is
distributed between the 60º N and 60º S, where the surface water is over 50º C
(Kruse et al., 1999). Nevertheless,
for the Caribbean, there are few reports for the species so it is not
considered very common in the region (Romero et al., 2001). The species
has been reported in areas such as Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands (Mignucci–Giannoni, 1999), in St
Vincent (Caldwell et al., 1971), St.
Croix (Erdman, 1970), Cuba (Varona, 1974), Aruba (Agudo and Ponson, 1996), and
in waters of the Colombian Caribbean
(Flores and Capella, 1995).
The Risso´s dolphin can be easily recognized in the field,
particularly when they are adults (Cawardine, 1995).
It is a gregarious, pelagic dolphin that almost exclusively consumes
cephalopods and has a distinctive groove along its forehead (Phillips et al., 2000). These animals body’s are from moderately robust to robust, especially in
front of the dorsal fin, which tends to be high and sickle-shaped (up to
In
Venezuela, the species was reported for the first time by Romero et al. (1991). In
In
this work, each of the reports on the species for the country, are analyzed and
described whether they were published or not, in order to establish a previous
characterization for it in Venezuela and therefore for the southern Caribbean.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In this study, information was
collected from different works in which the species G. griseus is referenced whether it was
published or not, for the Southern Caribbean and Venezuelan waters. In the same
way, reports made by Cetaceans Research Center (CIC by initials in Spanish)
personnel conducting different research projects in the field in the period
2000-
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Historical Review
Romero
et al. (1991) indicates two records
of G. griseus
for the year 1988. The first record was allegedly resulted from an incidental
catch from a commercial fishery to the south of Isla
The
second record was based on a sighting of more than one specimen in El Falucho inlet (11º 48’00” N 064º37’00” W) also near the
Isla de
According
to Klinowka (1991) and Kruse et al. (1999), the species generally is distributed over platforms
with depths beyond
The third record of G. griseus was
made by the Coast Guard Command Unit of the Venezuelan Army, in 1989, based on
a stranding event, apparently of a dead female, in lactating phase. It also
occurred on the coasts of Isla de
New reports
The fourth record for Venezuela,
which is also the first record for Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta state, was a
274-cm male stranded alive on El Tirano Beach
(11º05’00” N 063º50’30” W) on the 4th of October of 2002, attended
by the CIC and the Environmental and Natural Resources Ministry State Division
(DEA-MINAMB by initials in Spanish) (Figure 2).
After
the evaluation of this specimen, it was diagnosed to be a very old individual
with serious malnutrition and a gastric
condition, as well as a respiratory failure. It also showed whale lice ectoparasites (Cyamidae) which have been previously recorded in
other species of cetaceans in Venezuela (Bermúdez-Villapol
et al., 2006). These were collected
from the eyes, the axilar area of the pectoral fins
and the blow hole. Likewise, it also had an evident profile of stomatitis with
consequent strong deformity of gums and strong worn teeth with detachment of
some of them. Due to the profile presented, euthanasia procedures were applied.
Subsequently, macroscopic necropsy was carried out, which revealed the
certainty of the diagnosis, as well as the presence of three plastic bags in
the first chamber of the stomach.
Ingestion of bags and other plastic elements by different species of
cetacean has been previously reported for young and adult animals (Secchi and Zarzur, 1999; Baird
and Hooker, 2000). Causes of plastic ingestion by cetaceans is not clear, but
it is speculated that it might be the result of loosing
the ability to catch prey, in old and sick animals, as well as confusing it
with prey or as the accidental consequence of curiosity for the environment (Kastelein and Lavaleije, 1992;
Oliveira and Duarte, 2007). In this case the advanced age and condition of the
animal may have been contributed to its inability to catch prey, due to the
pathology described before.
Nematodes endoparasites,
from the genus Anisakis,
were also localized in the same stomach chamber. Anisakis parasites have been
reported in other species of cetaceans in the Caribbean (Cardona-Maldonado and Mignucci-Giannoni, 1999; Mignucci-Giannoni
et al., 1999; Bermúdez-Villapol
et al. 2006). The presence of a plane-segmented
non-identified parasite in the intestinal tract of some
A new sighting was recorded on the 4th
of July of
A female newborn specimen of G. griseus was
found dead on 14 April 2004, on El Guamachín beach
(10º59’06”N, 064º24’12” W) at the western end of Isla de Margarita, this
specimen stranded alive, according to information given by locals, but was
found dead by the staff of Museo Marino de Margarita
(Marine Museum of Margarita) and volunteers of Universidad de Oriente (UDO by initials in Spanish) (Bermúdez-Villapol
y Sayegh 2005). The identification of the animal was
responsibility of the CIC staff (Table 1). In this case, causes of the event
are unknown, but it constitutes the second live stranding of the species for
the region (Bermúdez-Villapol, et al 2004). The animal showed the dorsal fin and the caudal fin
still retracted which is characteristic
of newborn cetaceans, It was also clearly observed the V-shaped melon crack,
characteristic of the species and no teeth on the upper-jaw and dental bulges
on the lower-jaw.
Table 1. Morphometry comparison of two strandings
of Grampus griseus
(adult and newborn) occurred in Margarita Island, Nueva Esparta State. |
||||
Morphometry (cm) |
Specimen adult CICGGRI001 04/10/2002 |
% in relation to total length |
Specimen newborn 14/04/2004 |
% in relation to total length |
Total lenght |
274 |
100 |
116 |
100 |
Snout to eye |
31 |
11.31 |
17 |
14.65 |
Snout to blowhole |
30 |
10.94 |
16 |
13.79 |
Snout to anterior dorsal fin |
112 |
40.87 |
54 |
46.55 |
Snout to posterior dorsal fin |
143 |
nc |
68 |
nc |
Dorsal fin heigth |
27 |
9.85 |
11 |
9.48 |
Snout to genital slit |
170 |
nc |
72 |
nc |
Caudal fin length |
66 |
24.08 |
30 |
25.86 |
Fluke width |
19 |
nc |
10.2 |
nc |
Snout to umbilicus |
139.5 |
50.91 |
63.5 |
54.74 |
Snout to anterior flipper |
49 |
nc |
27 |
nc |
Snout to posterior flipper |
63 |
nc |
35 |
nc |
Flipper length, anterior |
x |
x |
23 |
x |
Flipper lenght posterior |
x |
x |
17.2 |
x |
Flipper width |
x |
x |
7.2 |
x |
The
specimen was preserved complete in the Marine Museum of Margarita, under the
authorization of the DEA-MINAMB, being the only one of G. griseus species collected and
exhibited in such conditions in the country (Figure 3.).
Both
stranding cases reported here for Margarita Island, represent only 1.8 % of
stranding data recorded for Nueva Esparta State between the 2000-2004 (Bermúdez-Villapol and Sayegh,
2005). Nevertheless, they represent valuable data for geographic distribution,
since both animals are the result of live strandings,
that is, they were not bodies swept in by the current up to these points, but
animals that might have potentially moved to those areas, localized in east and
west margins of Margarita.
The
most recent report of the species G. griseus up to now is referred to a record, non published, submitted by the Department of Environmental
Protection of the Coast Guard Command Unit of the Venezuelan Army (DPA-CGCARBV
by initials in Spanish), reported for 3 February
According
to the compilation data on sightings reports and cetacean strandings
particularly for the eastern basin of Venezuela there were 1,974 events
involving 20 species which means that reports of the species G. griseus for
the eastern basin represent only 0.35% of data.
Therefore it is considered a “Very Low Frequency” species for the
country.
CONCLUSION
1.
According to data collected and validated up to now,
the geographical distribution of G. griseus in Venezuela is limited to the northeastern
basin, occupying a variable underwater relief, with deep slopes, going from
2.
Distribution might be related to the distribution of
its primary cephalopod prey.
3.
Due to few existing reports of the species in the
Caribbean and especially for the southern Caribbean, data collected is
considered important and a contribution to the knowledge of the distribution of
it in the region.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To Coast Guard Command
Unit of the Venezuelan Navy (CGCARBV) for its support on CIC’s field research
projects. To Museo Marino de Margarita staff, for
their collaboration and receptivity on the suggestions the CIC made, about
handling and preservation for the specimen stranded in “El Guamachín”
beach, and now being exhibited in their facilities located in Boca de Río, Isla
de Margarita. And to Jaime Bolaños for provide us
with important literature for reference.
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